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Two Bosses Enter: LK voted back in, stalks ToC faction champs

Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy death matches. Your votes, along with the decisions of our distinguished judges (representing WoW.com staff and readers), determine who makes it out alive.

Despite a campaign by Judge John Zakour to bring back Eadric the Pure in last week's vote (offering to give away two Zakour books to readers if Eadric was voted back in), there will be no running away in the Thunderdome again this season. The Lich King stalked predictably back into contention with a lead of just 0.9% -- a mere 21 more votes than Eadric. As Judge Sky Paladin put it, "The difference between victory and defeat was less than a raid group." The spectator decision throws the Lich King back into the Thunderdome today in the first match of the semi-finals.

Two Bosses Enter Semi-Finals
The Five-Man Bosses of Icecrown Citadel and Trial of the Champion

Instead of holding the judges' decisions for after the fight as we have in previous matches, we're going to share their votes with you now, before the reader poll so that you can use their rationales to help you consider your vote. Now, let's settle back for the first match of the semi-finals, the Trial of the Champions PvP Champs versus Lich King (HoR version). Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls ... Dyin' time's here.

As in previous Thunderdome matches, we're going to pull out all five of the Trial of the Champions grand champions at once. (Players face only three of the champs during a given encounter.) There are no Argent Warhorse or lances here; the battle will follow the Lich King's Halls of Reflection encounter mechanic, and everyone will be on foot for the duration of the match. This is the five-man, Halls of Reflection version of Arthas. The ToC PvP Champs do not have to defeat the Lich King, merely stay out of reach long enough to escape his grasp at the end of the gauntlet.

Well, my reasoning for why Tyrannus could escape the LK was that he had the tools to deal with the LK's add spawns in time to get the walls down and lead whoever he was escorting to safety. If that's the case, then the ToC 5 champs (especially all five of them) are even more well suited. They have healing, tanking, plenty of DPS; it shouldn't be difficult at all for them to mow down the LK's waves and burn through the adds.

The Lich King is feeling extra cocky now, after being brought back from the jaws of utter defeat. He now feels he is the big bad, the guy Dick Cheney goes to for advice. What he fails to take into account is that the PvP Champs have been inspired. They easily dispatch of the LK's adds. After downing each add, they yell, "For Eadric!"

The Lich King loses his minions, but he doesn't care. He's a star now; entourages are easy to come by. As the Lich King slowly meanders towards the PVP champs, he happens to catch his reflection in a nearby puddle. He stops to admire himself. He starts thinking about endorsement deals. Maybe he needs to hire an agent? That thought makes him shudder. While the Lich King is busy contemplating his next career move, the PvP Champions escape for an easy victory.

I feel that the PvP champs will pull this one off. For the most part, they physically outnumber their opponents and have the high damage needed to burn them down quickly. They also have a healer for recovering from hits, high AoE damage for dealing with ghouls, two ranged DPSers for dealing with vrykul and a tank for dealing with the abominations. With all the right tools for the job and even opportunities to recover from mistakes, this one's in the bag for the faction champs.

The Lich King will trounce the PvP Champions. This has nothing to do with abilities or awesome factor or style. No, as anyone in the 5v5 arena bracket will tell you, Shadowmourne makes the days of Skillherald look like a time of fairness and balance. With Shadowmourne tearing up the arena brackets like a rampaging puppy chewing on homework, the PvP Champions stand no chance.

The laws of the Thunderdome

The Two Bosses Thunderdome is considered neutral territory, where both combatants are able to access their usual encounter mechanics and abilities. If you can't visualize it inside the Thunderdome, visualize it someplace else -- but you must take into consideration all of each bosses' abilities and mechanics.

Assume that each opponent is intelligent and capable of strategic thinking.

All of the competitors' abilities work on their opponents, including crowd control and other effects to which bosses are usually immune (with apologies to considerations of lore on this point).

Set aside the world order -- let the Thunderdome determine who's the champion of Icecrown! Come back next week to find out who'll be returning for the semi-finals of the Icecrown/Trial of the Champions season of Two Bosses Enter, One Boss Leaves.